Where do I start? I've been praying for a while now that God would give me a fresh touch of his presence/activity/leading in my life. Last night, He caught me off guard. (How like him. Right?)
Bw & I drove into Portland in the afternoon--Ikea recently opened its doors there. We had arranged to meet my nephew & niece for dinner downtown in the evening. We had a very enjoyable dinner together and afterward took a brief walk to the waterfront to show them the Willamette River and tell a little bit about the flood of '96 (doesn't that make me sound like an old-timer?). We left them there at the river and started back home.
We have a regular practice of praying in the car as we drive home through the (spectacular) Columbia River Gorge--especially when it is dark, which it was by the time we started home. Whenever we pray--whether at home or in the car--we ask God that his Holy Spirit guide us in our prayers that we would pray about the things He is concerned about and that we would pray toward what He wants to accomplish.
Well, we had prayed along this way for a while. I don't remember all that we prayed about: family members, country leaders, missionaries. Then when it came my turn again, it seemed that God reminded me to pray for the church, specifically the church in the US.
Actually, the prayer began as mourning over the immorality and materialism that we see every time we go into the city. Granted, these are seen here in HR as well, but in less obvious, less "in-your-face" ways. But in Pdx it seems that increasingly people are trying to outdo each other with how revealing their clothes can be (for females) and how outrageous they can appear (for males). This comes on top of the materialism demonstrated at places like Ikea, et al.
Well, I began there with mourning for a society that seems hell-bent on bending to the breaking point all the boundaries and norms that God wants for people who claim his blessing. Somehow this just seemed to flow naturally into a prayer for the church in the US. I think the link was that many of these same people would think of themselves as "normal" Christians. But if that is "normal" then what does it mean to be Christian? Probably it's time to drop that term and claim something like "Christ-follower" instead. Anyhoooo...
I started praying for the church in the US. And the verse from Micah 6:8 came to me:
Bw & I drove into Portland in the afternoon--Ikea recently opened its doors there. We had arranged to meet my nephew & niece for dinner downtown in the evening. We had a very enjoyable dinner together and afterward took a brief walk to the waterfront to show them the Willamette River and tell a little bit about the flood of '96 (doesn't that make me sound like an old-timer?). We left them there at the river and started back home.
We have a regular practice of praying in the car as we drive home through the (spectacular) Columbia River Gorge--especially when it is dark, which it was by the time we started home. Whenever we pray--whether at home or in the car--we ask God that his Holy Spirit guide us in our prayers that we would pray about the things He is concerned about and that we would pray toward what He wants to accomplish.
Well, we had prayed along this way for a while. I don't remember all that we prayed about: family members, country leaders, missionaries. Then when it came my turn again, it seemed that God reminded me to pray for the church, specifically the church in the US.
Actually, the prayer began as mourning over the immorality and materialism that we see every time we go into the city. Granted, these are seen here in HR as well, but in less obvious, less "in-your-face" ways. But in Pdx it seems that increasingly people are trying to outdo each other with how revealing their clothes can be (for females) and how outrageous they can appear (for males). This comes on top of the materialism demonstrated at places like Ikea, et al.
Well, I began there with mourning for a society that seems hell-bent on bending to the breaking point all the boundaries and norms that God wants for people who claim his blessing. Somehow this just seemed to flow naturally into a prayer for the church in the US. I think the link was that many of these same people would think of themselves as "normal" Christians. But if that is "normal" then what does it mean to be Christian? Probably it's time to drop that term and claim something like "Christ-follower" instead. Anyhoooo...
I started praying for the church in the US. And the verse from Micah 6:8 came to me:
"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."
So I just started going through that verse. I prayed for the church in the US that we would learn to act justly. That we would learn that justice begins with recognizing and confessing that if God were to act justly toward us, we woud already all be dead and burning in Hell. That it is God's justice demonstrated on the cross that spares us that fate. Then I prayed for the church in the US that we would love mercy. That we would recognize gratefully the mercy extended to us in Christ. That in turn we would extend that mercy to others around us. Then I prayed for the church in the US (each time I specifically named "the church in the US") that we would learn to walk humbly with our God. That confessing his justice and mercy we would live with humble spirits. That we would abandon our pride in great incomes and big buildings and all of "our accomplishments". Instead, that we would admit that none of this came by our own doing but only by the generosity of our God and Savior.
Well, each time I said that phrase, "I pray for the church in the US," each time I said that, became more moved than the time before. By the time I got to the need for the church's humility, I had difficulty speaking because God's Spirit was confirming in my spirit that this was indeed his prayer. And he was simply voicing his prayer through my lips.
Well, as some people say: "From your lips to God's ear!"
Then this morning's Bible study took me to 1 Corinthians 5 & 6, where Paul talks about immorality in the church and lawsuits between believers. But that is for another post (if that).
What do you think?
Well, each time I said that phrase, "I pray for the church in the US," each time I said that, became more moved than the time before. By the time I got to the need for the church's humility, I had difficulty speaking because God's Spirit was confirming in my spirit that this was indeed his prayer. And he was simply voicing his prayer through my lips.
Well, as some people say: "From your lips to God's ear!"
Then this morning's Bible study took me to 1 Corinthians 5 & 6, where Paul talks about immorality in the church and lawsuits between believers. But that is for another post (if that).
What do you think?
1 comment:
I understand the power of those verses and of your prayers. You reminded me a good hymn, "What Does the Lord Require", which is a meditation of Micah 6:8.
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